Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Tea Limited
Tea Description:
Young, fine and tender prominently golden tea leaves with an intensely forward aroma. These leaves produce a rich, medium bodied tea liquor with a very smooth and sweet flavour that is full of finesse. This tea has a wonderful depth of flavour and is highly recommended.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Really nice! This Golden Monkey has a rich, full-flavor that I want in my first cup of the day, the kind of tea that will help you get a move on!
I received a sampling of this tea from a friendly sipper on Steepster, which is an excellent community of tea drinkers. I like to call Steepster “Facebook for tea drinkers.” Anyway, I’m so grateful to the community because it allows me the opportunity to try some teas that maybe I wouldn’t have been able to try otherwise.
Like this Golden Monkey, for example! To brew this tea, I poured the sampling I received in the basket of my Kati Tumbler and heated 12 ounces of tea to boiling and let the tea steep for 3 minutes.
The aroma is sweet and chocolaty with notes of smoke, earth and leather. These notes translate to the flavor as well, because that’s exactly what I’m tasting! Notes of earth and leather, with background notes of smoke. There is an overtone of chocolate with a sweet undertone of caramel. Luscious!
It’s a remarkably smooth tea – I’m getting virtually no astringency. In the aftertaste, I experience a very slight dryness, but it is so slight that if I wasn’t focusing on it, I don’t know that I would have noticed it. It’s not bitter. It’s just pleasant deliciousness from start to finish.
Another great tea from this company!
Assam 2nd Flush 2014 Silver Needle White Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
A great tasting Silver Needle with a delicate sweet taste and no detectable astringency.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Assam 2nd Flush Silver Needle White Tea is quite unlike any other Silver Needle White tea I’ve tried to date. So to brew it, I decided to follow the purveyor’s suggested parameters and heat the water to 175°F (OK, the parameters suggest 176°F, but my Breville heats water at 5 degree intervals, and I figured 1° wasn’t going to make or break the tea.) I measured two pinches of tea into the bowl of my gaiwan and steeped the tea for 1 1/2 minutes for the first infusion, adding 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
Note: The steep time and the measurements that I used were my own, not the purveyor’s suggested parameters. I only used their temperature suggestions. What-Cha suggested 2 minutes steep time and 1 teaspoon per cup. But because I was using my gaiwan, I went with slightly more tea and slightly less time.
As I said, this tea is quite unlike any other Silver Needle Tea that I’ve experienced until now. Yes, there are some similarities to the Silver Needle teas I’ve had in the past. First of all, the leaves look very much like a silver needle, except that these are probably a little darker green than the silvery pale green that I’m used to seeing with a Silver Needle.
And there is a distinct hay-like aroma and flavor to this Assam Silver Needle, and that’s something that I typically experience with other Silver Needle teas. But the hay-like aroma here, especially in the dry leaf, is intense! It smells like the air of the countryside after a field of hay has been cut. Like within the hour of the hay cutting! It’s a strong scent. The fragrance softens when the tea is brewed, but there are still some strong hay-like notes to the cup.
And to the flavor! The hay notes are strong in the taste as well. It’s sweet and delicate – like a Silver Needle – but those sweet and hay-like flavors are stronger than in a typical Silver Needle.
If compared to a Silver Needle tea, this Assam Silver Needle would not be considered a delicate tea. But if compared to an Assam Black, then yes, this is definitely delicate in comparison.
Interestingly enough, I think that it’s appropriate to compare this Assam white tea to an Assam black because there are some similarities to the “more familiar” black tea from the Assam region. For example, I can taste notes of malt to this. I didn’t expect to. Sure, it’s an Assam tea, but, it’s a white tea … and I figured this Silver Needle would be far too delicate to detect the malty flavors. But no! There is a lovely malty sweetness to this cup.
It’s a smooth, calming drink. As the above description suggests, there is no astringency to this. It starts out sweet. The texture is silky. The aftertaste offers a delicate sweetness. I also pick up on a subtle citrus note in the aftertaste.
In later infusions, I began to notice the hay-like flavors begin to soften somewhat, not really waning, but instead, melding with the other flavors and allowing those other notes to come into focus. I started to pick up on gentle fruit notes and a lovely floral note.
A really delightful, deliciously different Silver Needle! This is another MUST TRY from What-Cha Tea. They are becoming THE source for some very unusual marvels of the tea world!
Gopaldhara Wonder Tea First Flush 2014 from Darjeeling Tea Lovers
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Darjeeling Tea Lovers
Tea Description:
GOPALDHARA WONDER ‘GOLD’ one of the most popular tea among the Darjeeling Tea Connoisseurs. A very limited stock is manufactured from the YOUNG TEA PLANTATIONS of this garden and this particular lot has been tagged as GOLD due to the supreme quality.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf looks a lot more like a green tea than a black tea. The aroma is pleasantly floral. Because the leaves are more “green” than black, I would advise not going higher than 195°F to brew this tea – that’s what I used and I’m quite pleased with the result. This is my usual ‘go-to’ temperature when it comes to Darjeeling teas, because they don’t seem to be as fully oxidized as other black teas are, even though they are usually categorized as a black tea. Darjeeling teas tend to be a little more delicate and should be treated differently.
I brewed these beautiful pale green, silvery tipped leaves in my Breville One-Touch. I used 2 bamboo scoops of leaf and 500ml of water heated to 195°F, and steeped the leaves for 2 ½ minutes. As I said before, I’m quite pleased with the resulting tea. Delicious!
Then again, I’ve been blown away by all the teas that I’ve tried from this company. Let me tell you, Darjeeling Tea Lovers KNOWS Darjeeling tea. If you’re a devotee of Darjeeling tea, this is a company you should be exploring. They have some of the very best Darjeeling teas I’ve ever tasted.
And this Gopaldhara Wonder Tea is indeed a wonder! Wonderful, that is! Sweet, crisp and refreshing! The liquid is somewhere between gold and green. It’s much paler than many Darjeeling teas that I’ve had this year. And it has a “greener” sort of taste to me. It tastes lighter and cleaner than a typical “black” Darjeeling. This doesn’t have that “muscatel” flavor that you might expect from a Darjeeling. This tea seems more focused on the sweet, delicate notes of flower. I taste notes of jasmine! Nice!
There are also delicate vegetal notes. Not so much vegetable (as in steamed veggies) as it is lightly grassy. But this is a sweet grassy note, not a bitter one. The sip starts out sweet and I pick up on the floral notes right away. Toward mid-sip, some of those lightly sweet, grassy notes start to come into focus. The sip ends with a floral note that is jasmine-esque, and this flavor lingers into the aftertaste. There is a light astringency at the start of the cup, and this astringency does develop as I continue to sip, but never becomes a really strong or what I would call astringent tea, instead, it’s a moderate astringency that leaves the palate feeling clean and invigorated.
An excellent afternoon tea – break out this tea when you have special guests over that you’re looking to impress! Or save it for an afternoon when you have time to reflect – this is one of those teas that I’d call meditative! The kind of tea that I want to enjoy when I don’t have a 101 different things to do … or the kind of tea I want to enjoy when I do have 101 things to do but I want to forget about them and just enjoy a moment for me!
Assam 2nd Flush 2014 Green Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
A brilliant green tea with a wonderful mango aroma, fruity taste and citrus finish. Perfect as an ‘everyday’ green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this tea has the most amazing aroma! So fruity, I almost thought it was a blended/flavored tea! It really does have a mango-y scent and it is a very strong fragrance. Once brewed, the scent does soften but there are still distinct fruit notes.
To brew this tea, I went with a slightly lower temperature – 175°F instead of 180°F – because when I see “Assam” my mind automatically thinks to adjust the temperature slightly. Assam is a little more temperamental than other teas, it seems, and I find that I experience less bitterness from Assam when I use a slightly lower temperature. I steeped it for 2 minutes. The liquid produced is quite pale, looking almost like a white tea rather than a green.
But there is still plenty of flavor!
The sip starts out quite light. Delicate. But by mid-sip, the palate starts picking up on some strong flavors. I taste the fruity notes that are promised in the above description and I’m also experiencing the citrus finish. This citrus finish lingers long in the aftertaste. A minute later and I’m still tasting bright citrus flavors.
I like how the flavors build with this tea. It starts out very soft. Again, I must compare it to a white tea. It’s delicate like that at first. But just before mid-sip, the flavors are developing. I first pick up on a slight vegetal note and soon these vegetative flavors are washed over by the sweet fruity notes. The finish is tangy with citrus. It’s a very light and rewarding taste. Soothing. Calming.
The leaves looked to me like they wanted to treat me to another cup of tea, so I resteeped them. The second infusion was not as delicate as the first. Much more flavor right up front. Notes of vegetation peek through right at the start and then the fruit notes come on strong. The citrus notes at the finish are not quite as sharp, they are softer but the tangy flavor is still present.
It would be difficult for me to decide which infusion I preferred. I liked the delicate approach of the first cup, but the second cup was so flavorful. Both were wonderful so I highly recommend infusing these leaves at least twice!
I haven’t tried as many green Assam teas as I would like to so trying this Assam Second Flush from What-Cha is a real treat for me! And it’s not just a treat because it’s something a little out of the norm for me, but it’s also a treat because it’s yet another amazing tea from this company. I’m really impressed by them!
Shan Black Tea (2014) from Shan Valley
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Shan Valley
Tea Description:
This is a first flush black tea, and is processed as is local tradition in Myanmar, the tea leaves are a little more uneven and have a balanced flavor. This tea is similar to the Kyaukme Black Tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Similar to the Kyaukme Black Tea from Shan Valley that I reviewed previously (as well as their 2013 Shan Black Tea), this black tea leaf has a very fine grind to the leaf that resembles a finely ground coffee bean. But as I said with the Kyaukme Black Tea, I will say with this tea, don’ t let the fine chop on these leaves dissuade you from trying it. It really is a splendid tea!
I recall the Kyaukme Black tea having an aroma to the dry leaf that reminded me very much of coffee. I don’t experience that scent with this tea. This smells a little more earthy. There are notes of leather and fruit and even the slightest floral note to this. This smells much more like black tea than coffee.
To brew this CTC tea, I used my Breville One Touch and measured 1 1/2 bamboo scoops into the basket of the tea maker. Then I poured 500ml of freshly filtered water into the kettle and set the timer for 2 1/2 minutes and the temperature for 212°F and let the tea maker get to work!
I would recommend that you experiment with this tea (or any other tea that has a fine CTC cut to it) to find what time works best for your palate. 2 1/2 minutes is cutting it pretty close for me, but I really wanted some edge to the cup when I brewed this tea. I am addicted to caffeine, you see, and I was experiencing a withdrawal headache.
Anyway, if you find that a CTC tea is too bitter for your liking when you’ve brewed it, try reducing the brew time by 30 seconds or 1 minute. You may find that you love that CTC! Sure, whole leaf is awesome … but just because the chop is fine on a tea doesn’t mean that it’s anything like that horrible dust and fannings that you’ll find in those tea bags from the grocery store.
The tea brews to a dark brown, almost black color. It brews so dark that it almost looks like a cup of black coffee. The aroma is rich and sweet with notes of molasses and hints of earth and leather. The fragrance here is much softer than that of the dry leaf, and I’m experiencing none of the aforementioned fruit or floral notes in the aroma.
But that’s OK because really, when it comes right down to it, it’s the flavor that counts and the flavor here is so rewarding. It’s a rich, robust cup of tea that has the vigor to get you going. This would make a really good breakfast tea and would take the additions of milk and honey quite well if you like to add those to your breakfast cuppa.
This is a very flavorful cup. It isn’t bitter but I suspect that if I had brewed it for another 30 seconds it would be. It’s right at that edge that I was looking for to deliver me a cup full of gusto but not so much that I can’t enjoy it. I AM enjoying this! Immensely!
It has a deep flavor to it. As I mentioned before, the aroma of the dry leaf is earthy with notes of leather and I do taste subtle notes of both earth and leather here, but they are much more subtle than the aroma suggests. Malt! A malty note that would rival your favorite Assam! I taste a deep molasses-y sort of flavor, like caramel that has been made from molasses (if there is such a thing.) I can taste a “burnt sugar” sort of flavor.
Last year’s Black Tea from Shan Valley had a very prominent cacao sort of flavor and I’m not experiencing that quite as much with this tea. I’m also experiencing less of a roasted sort of flavor. I still taste these notes, but they are less obvious to me than the malt and burnt-sugar/molasses notes that I mentioned before. There is a fair amount of astringency, I would classify it as medium astringency. As I continue to sip, I start to notice a sort of bake-y type of flavor that is reminiscent of freshly baked bread and I’m picking up on notes that are somewhat fruit like, hinting at notes of black currant, grapes, and plums.
I find that this flush is a little bit different from last year’s tea, and that’s why you want to try each flush, to experience all the flavors that each flush offers! This one is much more rugged than last year’s Shan Black, but both are really wonderful teas and well worth experiencing!